Standard Lemma guide

posture

noun · verb · 13 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈpɒst͡ʃə/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American, dialectal: /ˈpɑst͡ʃɚ/ of Canada
  • Canada, dialectal: /ˈpɒst͡ʃɚ/ of the US
  • Australian: /ˈpɔst͡ʃə/
  • New-Zealand: /ˈpɒst͡ʃə/
  • New-Zealand: [ˈpɔ̟st͡ʃə]
  • South-Asia: /ˈpɔstʃə(r)/
  • South-Asia: /ˈpostʃə(r)/ by analogy with post
  • CMU ARPABET: P AA1 S CH ER0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The way a person holds and positions their body.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A situation or condition.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

One's attitude or the social or political position one takes towards an issue or another person.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Examples

  • 1651, Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan ...that is, their Forts, Garrisons, and Guns upon the Frontiers of their Kingdomes; and continuall Spyes upon their neighbours; which is a posture of War.
  • 1912, G.K. Chesterton, A Miscellany of Men But it is not true, no sane person can call it true, that man as a whole in his general attitude towards the world, in his posture towards death or green fields, towards the weather or the baby, will be wise to cultivate dissatisfaction.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

The position of someone or something relative to another; position; situation.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, rare, uncountable

Examples

  • 1661, Thomas Salusbury (translator), Galileo's Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief Systems of the World The Moon beheld in any posture, in respect of the Sun and us, sheweth us its superficies ... always equally clear.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

verb

Meaning 5

To put one's body into a posture or series of postures, especially hoping that one will be noticed and admired.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: intransitive

Examples

  • If you're finished posturing in front of the mirror, can I use the bathroom now?

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

verb

Meaning 6

To pretend to have an opinion or a conviction.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: intransitive

Examples

  • The politicians couldn't really care less about the issue: they're just posturing for the media.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

7

verb

Meaning 7

To place in a particular position or attitude; to pose.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: transitive

Examples

  • to posture oneself; to posture a model

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

8

noun

Meaning 8

characteristic way of bearing one's body

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • stood with good posture

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: carriage, bearing

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: bodily property

Narrower terms: walk, manner of walking, slouch, gracefulness, awkwardness, clumsiness

9

noun

Meaning 9

the arrangement of the body and its limbs

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • he assumed an attitude of surrender

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: position, attitude

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: bodily property

Narrower terms: order arms, ballet position, decubitus, eversion, lithotomy position, lotus position, missionary position, pose, presentation, ectopia, asana, guard, sprawl, sprawling, stance, tuck

10

noun

Meaning 10

capability in terms of personnel and materiel that affect the capacity to fight a war

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • we faced an army of great strength
  • politicians have neglected our military posture

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: military capability, military strength, strength, military posture

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: capability, capableness

Narrower terms: sea power, firepower

11

noun

Meaning 11

a rationalized mental attitude

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: position, stance

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: attitude, mental attitude

Narrower terms: hard line, point of view, viewpoint, stand, standpoint

12

verb

Meaning 12

assume a posture as for artistic purposes

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • We don't know the woman who posed for Leonardo so often

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: model, pose, sit

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: expose, exhibit, display

Narrower terms: ramp

13

verb

Meaning 13

behave affectedly or unnaturally in order to impress others

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • Don't pay any attention to him--he is always posing to impress his peers!
  • She postured and made a total fool of herself

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: pose

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: behave, acquit, bear, deport, conduct, comport, carry

Narrower terms: attitudinize, attitudinise

History

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French posture, from Italian postura, from Latin positūra (“position, situation”). Doublet of positura.

Across languages

Translations

47 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: وَضْعِيَّة (waḍʕiyya) — position of body
  • Azerbaijani: duruş — position of body
  • Belarusian: паста́ва (pastáva) — position of body
  • Bulgarian: сто́йка (stójka) — position of body
  • Bulgarian: по́за (póza) — position of body
  • Bulgarian: оса́нка (osánka) — position of body
  • Catalan: postura — position of body
  • Chinese: 姿勢 /姿势 (zīshì) — position of body
  • Czech: postoj — position of body
  • Danish: holdning — position of body
  • Danish: positur — position of body
  • Dutch: houding — position of body
  • Esperanto: teniĝo — position of body
  • Finnish: asento — position of body
  • Finnish: ryhti — position of body
  • French: posture — position of body
  • German: Haltung — position of body
  • Hungarian: testtartás — position of body
  • Icelandic: stelling — position of body
  • Italian: postura — position of body
  • Italian: atteggiamento — position of body
  • Japanese: 姿勢 (shisei) — position of body
  • Kazakh: қалып (qalyp) — position of body
  • Kazakh: түр (tür) — position of body
  • Kazakh: бейне (beine) — position of body
  • Korean: 자세 (jase) — position of body
  • Kyrgyz: ахыбал (ahıbal) — position of body
  • Kyrgyz: жобо (jobo) — position of body
  • Latin: positūra — position of body
  • Portuguese: postura — position of body
  • Romanian: postură — position of body
  • Romanian: ținută — position of body
  • Russian: по́за (póza) — position of body
  • Russian: оса́нка (osánka) — position of body
  • Serbo-Croatian: držanje — position of body
  • Spanish: postura — position of body
  • Swedish: hållning — position of body
  • Telugu: భంగిమ (bhaṅgima) — position of body
  • Turkish: duruş — position of body
  • Turkish: postür — position of body
  • Ottoman Turkish: جلسه (celse) — position of body
  • Ottoman Turkish: وضعیت (vazʼiyet) — position of body
  • Ukrainian: поста́ва (postáva) — position of body
  • Ukrainian: стату́ра (statúra) — position of body
  • Ukrainian: оса́нка (osánka) — position of body
  • Bulgarian: позирам (poziram) — to put one's body into a posture or series of postures
  • Italian: atteggiarsi — to put one's body into a posture or series of postures
Real reading context

posture in complete knowledge articles

Nike of Paros History & culture · Challenging · 4 uses